Trenchtown Takedown: New member seeks feedback

Hello tiki wizards. I've been interested in classic (and classic-style) cocktails for some time, but I only recently threw myself full-force into the tiki realm, largely inspired by the month of tiki that Doug over at the Pegu blog did. I now have something like 18 bottles of rum on my shelf, which I know may not seem like much for some of you folks, but I can assure you my girlfriend thinks it is a lot!

Anyway, largely as a result of a bit of an accident, I created this cocktail, which I call the Trenchtown Takedown:

1 ounce Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum
1 ounce Appleton Extra Rum
1 ounce grapefruit juice
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
1/4 ounce allspice dram
1/4 teaspoon absinthe
1/2 small blood orange, juiced

Combine all ingredients except blood orange juice in either a shaker with ice or a blender with six ounces of crushed ice. If shaken, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If blending, pour into a suitably sized rocks glass or tiki mug. Either way, finish by floating the blood orange juice on top of the drink and swirling it into an appropriate pattern.

This is my first attempt at a tiki-style drink, so I'm wondering what you experienced tiki masters think of it. All criticism is welcome.

If you're the kind of person who is interested in the drink-creation process, read on, otherwise skip the rest of this post, but I do hope you will make the drink and tell me if you like it.

So what happened was I made some cinnamon syrup, I put it in a little bottle, and I thought I should maybe put some rum in it to hopefully keep it fresh a little longer (I wasn't sure how often I'd use it). It was late at night and I think I'd heard to put an ounce of vodka in simple syrup made with one cup sugar and one cup of water. So I put an ounce of Wray & Nephew Overproof in it. Only problem was I had only made half that much cinnamon syrup! The W&N OP obviously has a pretty pronounced flavor, so the syrup picked up more than a bit of that distinctly "kerosene" aroma and flavor from the rum. But I tasted it, and though it was definitely a bit off, I kind of liked it.

I had heard that in Jamaica they like to drink the W&N OP with Ting (grapefruit soda), so my thought was to make a Hemingway Daiquiri using W&N OP for the rum and my cinnamon syrup instead of the maraschino. Later, I found out that I had just made a Donga Punch, substituting the Martinique rum with W&N. Also, I thought more than a few people might find the W&N a bit harsh and overwhelming. Also also, it wasn't that tiki. So, trying to stick to the Jamaican theme, I tiki'd it up a bit, and this is the result. It still bears more than a passing resemblance to the Donga Punch (and the Jet Pilot), but I think you'll agree that (for better or worse) the Wray & Nephew makes it a distinctly different drink.

[ Edited by: taliesin 2009-04-28 19:12 ]

Looks impressive for a first try, and your thinking process is right. You may have a knack for this. The drink sounds good. My only concern is that it may be a bit too much on the absinthe as absinthe and pastis (eg Pernod) tend to overwhelm drinks even in small amounts. Seems to me it very well might completely bury the allspice at that amount. If it does try cutting the absinthe in half, which is still twice as much as Don the Beachcomber tended to use.

Thanks for the comment, PiPhiRho! I thought the absinthe might be a bit heavy, but at first I used just a dash of absinthe, and with the other strong flavors in the drink I couldn't really taste it. So I may have gone too far the other way. I'm going to take your suggestion and edit the recipe to call for only 1/4 teaspoon.